I studied anthropology and art history, as I have always been captivated by living traditions.

I grew up in Siena and was surrounded by the Palio, and all my friends at school were obsessed with it. But since my parents are English, I was never quite part of it.

The Palio is shrouded in mystery and secrecy, and the players can't discuss their devious schemes.

Paradoxically, in the field being a woman actually helps you: people often feel more comfortable talking to women, which is key in documentaries.

Documentaries are unpredictable. You never know what will turn up, and the drama occurs in real time. But if you listen to people, a narrative always emerges.

He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.

Habits decide who you become permanently, what you do daily and what you have always.

Life is easy. Just stay un-dead.

You just don’t get it. The point I’m trying to make—the point you’re deliberately ignoring—is that tomorrow it might all go away. You have to do what you want and take what you want now.

Such is my experience - not that I ever mourned the loss of a child, but that I consider myself as lost!

Why can't somebody give us a list of things that everybody thinks and nobody says, and another list of things that everybody says and nobody thinks?

It's abundantly clear that we already have extraterrestrials living among us, and people are stepping forward who can communicate with them.

Hope is a punishable offense. The verdict is always death; one more death of the heart.

The Bible: a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalise mankind.

A peculiarity of capital is that it cannot be employed productively without benefiting the community in which it is used.